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Everything listed under: Thermal Imaging

Thermal imaging is fast becoming an excellent tool for checking the unseen, inner workings of solar panels that are not performing. This was the case on a Hereford solar farm that is managed by Hereford based, Caplor Energy. Clean Solar Solutions were called in to use our thermal imaging camera out what potential problems were causing the underperformance.

Caplor Energy were quick to notice the underperformance from a string of the solar farm and sent an engineer to meet us on site. We were fortunate to have a cold, but sunny day to work with in late October, so that we had sufficient light levels for the thermal imaging of the solar panels and we could get accurate results.

We firstly checked the combiner boxes for overheating components, but everything checked out ok.

We did discover some solar panels that had cells that had failed, showing signs of Potential Induced Degradation (PID). PID is an undesirable property of some solar modules. It has been described as a 'cancer' of solar modules. PID can have a dramatic negative effect on the performance of PV modules. Crystalline silicon solar cells affected by PID become slightly warmer than unaffected cells, as shown in the thermal images below.

Due to the images that we were able to obtain, Caplor Energy will now be in a good position to either swap the modules, fit a PID PV Offset Box or employ the specialist services of a PV maintenance company such as Suncycle to reverse the PID.

The solar array thermal imaging service that Clean Solar Solutions provide can identify PID and other unseen problems that occur with solar arrays. We are happy to provide you with more information and prices upon request. Please feel free to contact us.

Clean Solar Solutions are glad to have formed a UK-based drone surveying partnership with Swansea based Cleandrone. Drone surveying is quickly becoming the preferred method of immediate faultfinding on utility scale solar farms. we are actively seeking a similar partner for our Australian operations.

Drone surveying is a value for money method of faultfinding that can quickly and efficiently survey large amounts of solar panels, whilst at the same time, providing real time data, reporting and images which provides an accurate picture of how a solar farm is performing.

Steve Williams, Managing Director of Clean Solar Solutions comments "As the demands of asset owners increase, so do the services that O&M providers need to give. We are glad to have partnered with Cleandrone so that we can expand our O&M offering. We have previously offered a thermal imaging service on rooftop arrays simultaneously as we clean the solar panels. Now, we can survey solar farms to see if they need cleaning and after we have cleaned the solar panels, we can again use the drone to prove the benefit that the cleaning has brought. To partner with a company like Cleandrone is an excellent addition to our O&M package."

John White, CEO of Cleandrone comments "We are delighted to be partnering with an established successful company, who provide first class O&M services. This partnership allows our two companies to provide an integrated offering to solar asset managers. The combination of Clean Solar Solutions’ cleaning capabilities and Cleandrone’s fault finding thermal solution provides an efficient approach to maintaining the expected yield over the lifetime of our customers’ assets. We look forward to a long and successful partnership as we cement our positions at the forefront of O&M services."

A video of the drone in action and the benefits of drone thermography are discussed in more detail on our solar thermography page. If you would like a quotation for a thermal survey using either the drone or our handheld thermal cameras, please contact us.

Thermal imaging is a reliable and accurate way of fault finding on solar arrays. We can diagnose faults on solar panels, wiring boxes and other components. We carry out solar thermal imaging, surveys and reports across the whole of Australia.

Our solar thermal imaging service offers several advantages to solar installers and end-users alike. We can see anomalies and faults that can clearly been seen on a crisp thermal image and unlike most other fault finding methods, we can use our thermal camera to spot faults while the solar panels are still in operation. Finally, we can scan large areas of solar panels in a relatively short time frame.

We are able to provide a thermal imaging service during array installation, but perhaps most importantly, we can now provide you with a regular predictive maintenance check-up after the solar panels have been installed. Our thermal camera will spot potential problem areas and you can then look to repair before actual problems or failures occur.

The types of equipment we can survey include:

Switchgear and Switchboards

Busbar Systems

Distribution Boards and Fuse Boards

Transformers

High Voltage Systems

Overhead Power Lines & Substations

Control Panels

UPS Systems

Batteries

Solar Panels

The benefits of using Clean Solar Solutions Ltd to conduct this electrical thermographic survey include:

Power is not interrupted during a survey. No downtime or loss of revenue.

This is a predictive maintenance technique which will make your business more reliable and reduce the risk of fire. We are able to detect faults which if left unattended would lead to breakdown or risk of fire.

We provide a clear, but comprehensive report which details the suspected cause of the fault, the severity of the problem and our recommendation of remedial action that may be required to repair.

We only use high resolution thermal imaging equipment which allows us to detect faults on smaller components and allows us to keep a safe distance from potential faults.

Thermal images can be emailed to you while we are still on site for 'live' viewing.

Bespoke scheduling and depth of surveys can be arranged.

Our thermal imaging camera allows us to quickly identify defects at both module and cell level as well as wiring and interconnection problems under normal operating conditions and we do not require a system shut down. This means that we can provide your system with a regular check-up and potentially increase drastically the solar array owners return on investment.

Any faults or anomalies that are found are reported to your site maintenance team or solar array owner. Where a member of the solar maintenance team is on site, they may be able to rectify any problems that require urgent attention.

Please contact us if you would like to arrange a thermal imaging survey on your solar array.